Chicken Treats…Grow your Own!

Cooped up in their run all day the girls don’t get much in the way of fresh greens…something that bothered me from the beginning. Not enough to let them roam my garden and destroy it, but enough to supply greens from the garden and refrigerator on a regular basis. But, with a little research, I discovered a way to “grow a treat a week”!

I ordered 10 packets of “Chicken Salad” Seed Mix from mypetchicken.com, bought some seed starting mix, a shallow clay pot (lined with a coffee filter) and got the seeds planted and placed in a sunny window:

The first attempt in a sunny window started stretching toward the light and clearly lacked enough sun to grown properly:

Next I purchased a 2 foot Gro light (available online or locally at Friedman’s Home Improvement ) and the seedlings grew perfectly:

Wow what a difference! In a week I had a nice pot of salad to deliver to the ladies!

I set the pot in the run which sent them all running into the coop. Lacy was the first to venture out and take a look:

Who was soon joined by Lily…

And the rest happened so quickly I almost missed it! Once Lily took a bite she must have conveyed her delight through some “chicken thoughts” that the others picked up because that pot lasted all of 2 minutes!

They loved eating the greens, I love growing them….so, it’s a win/win! Now the lights have one pot of chicken treats and all our spring seeds under them! Happy Spring!